Selwyn Hinds Canterbury Profitability

Meeting a Sustainable Future was a levy funded DairyNZ initiative to support farmers in the Selwyn and Hinds catchments meet their environmental obligations while optimising their farm systems for profit and resilience.

DairyNZ collaborated with a group of farmers and their trusted advisors to explore the options for reducing their farm’s environmental footprint (specifically water quality and greenhouse gas emissions) while maintaining profitability and considering the strategic objectives of their business. Region-specific rules, such as Environment Canterbury’s Plan Changes 1, 2, and 5, with nitrogen loss limits and other practices were also in development or came into effect during this time.

This initiative was part of a five-year project launched in September 2018 and complemented the good work already being done by farmers, scientists, and rural professionals.

Environment Canterbury requirements

Selwyn Te Waihora

Farms in the nutrient allocation zone of Selwyn Te Waihora Catchment come under Plan Change 1. From the 2017-18 season, farms were required to operate at or below their baseline N loss figure (2009/10 to 2012/13) which needs to be consistent with specific good management practices (baseline files were updated to reflect these practices). Dairy farms were then required to further reduce their baseline figures by 30% and 22% for dairy support blocks in 2022.

All farms that were:

• not part of Central Plains Water Ltd
• greater than 10 ha and has an N loss of more than 15 kg N/ha/yr
• or in the cultural sensitive/values zone or phosphate risk zone, required a farming activity land use consent, including a farm environment plan. Farms that part of Central Plains Water, came under their environmental management and scheme consent.

Hinds/Hekeao Plains

The nutrient allocation sub-zone of Hinds (lower) between Hinds and Rangitata River, is included in Plan Change 2. From July 2017 this required properties that are leaching more than 20 kg N/ha/year and are greater than 5 ha in size to have a farm environmental plan (FEP) and a farming activity land use consent, unless they are part of an irrigation scheme.

Properties were required to submit their 2009/10 to 2012/13 Overseer nutrient budgets to inform the baseline nutrient loss figure (files were updated to reflect GMP practices). From the 2017/18 season, unless part of an irrigation scheme, farms were required to operate at or below their baseline N loss figure and be consistent with good management practices.

Properties leaching more than 20 kg N/ha/year were required to progressively reduce their N loss beyond baseline good management practice levels by 15% by 2025, 25% by 2030 and 36% by 2035.

Farms that are part of an irrigation scheme come under the scheme’s consent and nutrient management requirements.

Meeting targets on farm

Farmers who we partnered with, shared their progress to ensure they meet the regulations and continue reducing their environmental footprint, while maintaining or improving profitability. They shared their learnings both within the group and more widely through field days, articles, web profiles and day to day conversations.

View partner farm profiles

Options

• Reducing N Loss – A guide to good management practice
• Solutions to reduce N leaching and maintain profit
• Plantain
• Catch Crops
• Irrigation
• Managing Effluent
• Effluent Infrastructure
• Critical Source Areas

Project success

Initial success for this project was demonstrating dairy farmers in Selwyn and Hinds could make the necessary changes to meet environmental regulations while running resilient and profitable businesses.

They gained confidence in the options available to them to reduce nitrogen (N) leaching and GHG emissions and an understanding of the implications of these options on the overall performance of their production systems. This was evident through individual farm modelling and sharing their experiences within the farming community.

Subsequent region-wide analysis (as modelled with Overseer®) indicates farmers have continued to reduce their on-farm N-losses.